Task force reignites debate on school funding

Districts scrutinized for how dollars are spent

Topeka USD Superintendent Julie Ford Julie Ford holds a copy of where the federal and state funding goes into the schools. Ford knows school finances will likely face increased scrutiny in the coming year.

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Topeka USD Superintendent Julie Ford knows that the finances of her district, and others across the state, are likely to face increased scrutiny in the coming year.

Ford says that is fine with her.

"We know what’s expected," Ford said. "We are very accountable to both state and federal dollars.”

Ford and her colleagues also have been here before. The debate over how much school funding reaches the classroom is years old but appears ready to reignite with Gov. Sam Brownback's announcing the formation of a School Efficiency Task Force.

The task force is set to meet for the first time Monday starting at 10 a.m. in room 152-S of the Statehouse.

But before the state can engage in a healthy debate about what percentage of school funding should go to classroom instruction, the parties involved first have to agree on a standard definition of classroom instruction.

In the opening paragraph of a news release announcing the task force, Brownback said "only 15 of the 286 school districts in Kansas adhere to the state law that requires at least 65 percent of funds provided by the state to school districts are to be spent in the classroom or for instruction."

Democratic leaders disagreed.

“There's two fallacies to that statement," Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said at a news conference days later. "First, there's no state law requiring 65 percent, it’s a policy goal. Secondly, every single school district — all 286 school districts in Kansas — invest at least 65 percent into the classroom. “

Hensley said that information came from the state's Department of Education.

The governor's spokeswoman, Sherriene Jones-Sontag, said the department's numbers excludes state payments for capital improvements, debt service and architectural/engineering design.

"If we were wrong about only 15 districts getting at least 65 percent of state funding in classrooms or for instruction, I would have expected our phone to be ringing off the hook with calls from districts saying we were incorrect in our calculations," Jones-Sontag said. "We have received one call from a district financial director whose district is one of the 15 districts."

The "65 percent" spending on instruction statute, KS 72-64c01, describes the threshold as a "public policy goal," rather than a binding legal obligation.

It defines instruction as "the activities dealing directly with the interaction between teachers and students," but adds that co-curricular activity instruction also counts, as does instruction done via phone or internet, or "the activities of aides or classroom assistants of any type."

Ford provided documentation that showed this year's USD 501 budget places 57 percent of all funds into "instruction," and an additional 10 percent on "student and instructional support."

She said the second category includes librarians, nurses, counselors and social workers who have become "critical to school districts."

“I just encourage everybody to maybe spend a day in a public school to see all the services we provide," Ford said.

It remains to be seen which of those services the task force will count towards a district's 65 percent goal.

The statute that established the goal was passed during a special session in 2005, a tumultuous time for public education in Kansas. In a landmark school finance lawsuit, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in April of that year that the state wasn’t meeting its Constitutional mandate to provide every child with a suitable education and ordered the Legislature to pour in $290 million to meet the recommendations of a cost study.

The decision caused widespread resentment among conservatives, who have since questioned whether the court overreached, whether school districts are spending their dollars wisely and whether giving them more dollars will lead to better academic outcomes.

The court also ordered a Legislative Post Audit examination of school funding. Democrats and representatives of the Kansas National Education Association are quick to cite a passage from the auditor's report, released in 2006, that "found a strong association between the amounts districts spend and the outcomes they achieve."

"Say what you want about how 'money doesn't matter,' but the legislative post audit found a nearly 1:1 correspondence between spending and outcomes," KNEA spokesman Mark Desetti said. "And they are more than 99 percent confident of that relationship."

But Walt Chappell, a member of the state board of education, said the full audit report, which spans several hundred pages, is "inconclusive" on whether there is a link between spending and student achievement.

Chappell, who wrote a brief in the school funding case, Montoy v. State of Kansas, said there is no evidence the money added at the court's urging improved achievement.

"Claiming that hiring 6,402 new employees after Montoy resulted in higher achievement scores on the state assessments ignores the basic fact that the cut scores were lowered and the 'Meets Standards' category was added in 2005 to inflate the percentage of students who appear to be 'Proficient' in 2006 test scores until now," Chappell wrote in an email.

Chappell said school districts spent nearly all of the $1 billion eventually added over several years on "non-instructional staff and sports complexes."

Brad Neuenswander, the deputy commissioner for learning services within the Kansas Department of Education, said scores for proficiency on core assessment tests change every five years because the standards become more rigorous and the tests themselves change.

Neuenswander said the state also changed some labels about 10 years ago to conform with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but that didn’t alter the underlying performance standards.

As for sports complexes, Neuenswander said they are more of a local obligation.

"The poorer districts, they do get some state aid to help with those," Neuenswander said. "But for all of those they've got to have their local taxpayers vote in the bond election."

Neuenswander said the "non-instructional staff" Chappell referred to includes support staff like counselors, reading coaches and curriculum directors.

He provided a breakdown of the Department of Education's personnel history for the last 10 years that showed the number of administrators — including superintendents, assistant superintendents and principals — declining in recent years.

No one in those positions will serve on the task force that meets Monday. It is made up entirely of accountants, business people and state board of education member Ken Willard, who was formerly in insurance.

The exclusion of educators drew criticism from Desetti and Democrats, but Jones-Sontag said the panel has the right personnel.

"This task force is about finance and spending so we chose people with an expertise in those areas," she said, adding that the Department of Education has its own task force that includes educators.

Ford said she is hopeful the governor's task force will be "open-minded" and she has confident her district will glean important things from its scrutiny, as it does from every audit.

Ford added during an interview Thursday that the district is welcoming an impending audit by the Kansas Learning Network.

“It’s not like we’re not constantly looking at ways to get better,” Ford said.

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how every single educator in Kansas is not on an anti-depressant. With the constant attacks, many of which are unfounded, students who are disrespectful and the everyday stress of teaching, who could blame them. We need to stop making our educators the enemy, and provide them the moral and financial support they deserve.

To support whatever agenda the Governor has regarding educating our youth. Get ready for less support from the Gov! To have only only bean counters on this task force is like having only morticians in the operating room. And Sherriene - no one from the districts is going to speak out against a Gov in a level of authority that could cost them their jobs. Not with the cronyism he has already exhibited. And please answer when the phone does ring!

Sam the sham only wants the outcome he wants as proof -beyond what God tells him and not everyone believes- that schools can get along on less money. If he had educators on the committee, they would have proof positive that education is being starved in this state.

The Gov. thinks that tax breaks will bring businesses to the state, but they will need an educated work force. Sammy just can't put 2 and 2 together!

Why doesn't he get his Koch buddies and Chamber of Commerce backers to finance the schools instead of lining his and his cronies' pockets!

What do you staunch defenders of Educational Efficiency think the job you are doing? Armed guards in the hallways. Teacher "minders" to insure classroom knowledge adheres to the Gospel (read whatever burp in the story line comes down the pike this week) nonsense. Teachers are not free to teach within their Discipline. The children get what a committee says they get. Worse yet, if ya just don't get it (or simply don't want to) NOT TO WORRY! The School will appoint you a Para to "Help" do your work. Someone to advocate, so to speak.

If any of you wonder why Private Schools are doing so well then you are part of the problem.

We know that you feel public school children are abusing the system. They should be out working evenings and weekends. Then maybe they could pay for their own education. How else will they learn that these handouts are temporary? Besides, the Koch Klan is getting fed up with this nonsense.